In our focus on improving teachers, are we overlooking importance of principals?

The report "Churn: The High Cost of Principal Turnover " looks at the impact of the revolving door, explaining, "Twenty-fi­ve thousand (one-quarter of the country's principals) leave their schools each year. Fifty percent of new principals quit during their third year in the role. Those that remain frequently do not stay at high poverty schools, trading difficult-to-lead schools for less demanding leadership roles that serve more affluent populations."

The study says school leadership has a direct impact on student success, noting, "When strong principals are at the helm of schools, they positively influence the school culture and the instructional quality of whole systems of teachers. Leaders’ effect on students contributes to 25 percent of the total school influences on a child’s academic performance. What does this actually mean in the lives of children? In one study, Branch, Hanushek and Rivkin found the top sixteen percent of principals realized additional two- to seven-month gains in student learning above schools with less effective leaders."

The Hechinger Report has a good piece on the importance of principals and the pressures they face in this new age of accountability, pressures that can send them running out the door.

As the report notes: (Please read the full Hechinger story if you have the time.)

Anyone have ideas on how to retain good principals? Is the job becoming too demanding?

A former middle school principal told me her job had dozens of moving parts, and most had nothing to do with academics. She described a week where she had to deal with a leak in the roof over the gym, a spate of car break-ins in the teachers' parking lot and a parent who allegedly stole funds from the booster club concession stand. All of that chaos erupted during a week when she was supposed to spend half of each day observing teachers.